Colombian oil output up 12.8 pct in November -govt

BOGOTA Dec 16 (Reuters) - Colombia's oil production rose
12.8 percent in November to 818,000 barrels per day (bpd), its
highest level this year, the country's state-run hydrocarbons
agency said on Thursday.

Output in November last year was 725,000 bpd.

Colombia, Latin America's No. 4 oil producer, is enjoying a
boom in oil and mining investment, as violence from its long
guerrilla war ebbs and foreign oil companies explore in areas
once off limits because of security fears.

Output from state oil company Ecopetrol (ECO.CN: Quote)(EC.N: Quote) and
its partners rose 12.3 percent to 736,000 bpd in November
compared to 655,000 bpd in the same month a year earlier.

Colombia's average production for the year was 781,000 bpd,
the agency said.